Futurians

thumb | right | alt=Donald Allen Wollheim, Frederik Pohl and John Michel | Donald Allen Wollheim, Frederik Pohl and John Michel The Futurians were an influential group of science fiction fans, writers, and editors who helped shape the genre in the United States between 1938 and 1945. Based in New York City, the group included many individuals who would become major figures in science fiction, including Isaac Asimov, Frederik Pohl, Donald A. Wollheim, James Blish, Cyril M. Kornbluth, Damon Knight, and Judith Merril. Known for their left-wing political views and collective approach to professional development, the Futurians were, as Knight noted, "brilliant, eccentric and poor," yet from this group of never more than twenty members came seven of the field's most prominent names.

==History== ===Formation=== The Futurians formed in September 1938 following ideological conflicts within New York science fiction fandom. The group emerged when Donald A. Wollheim broke away from the Greater New York Science Fiction Club (GNYCSFC), which was led by Sam Moskowitz.